Andrew Speno, one of our favorite local media personalities, is no longer with Fox 25. As Steve Largent would say, “That’s bull shit!”

We first heard the news at around 4:30 today via an email from an Ogle Mole. The Mole, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, claimed that Speno, along with News Director Joe Spadea and an employee from HR, were all fired or asked to “resign.”

Speno confirmed this news at about 5:00pm on Twitter:

This sucks. As this old “OKC Media Approval Rankings” poll shows, everyone seemed to like Andrew Speno. He was Oklahoma City’s version of Brian Williams. He came across as professional and trustworthy, yet he also had a subtle humor and wit that could make you laugh. That humorous side was good, but it also got him into trouble. He had to publicly apologize a few weeks ago after making a funny, yet “insensitive,” smart ass remark about Whitney Houston and her crack pipe on the air.

Oddly enough, we’re hearing that the crack pipe comment isn’t what led to Speno’s departure. According to our sources, “stirring the pot” and either knowing about and/or failing to alert station management to an HR “issue” may have lad to his demise.

What’s that HR issue? Well, read this Q&A from our Friday Mailbag that was posted on March 16. When you do, keep in mind that Channel 25 also parted ways today with News Director Joe Spadea and an employee in the HR department.

Q: This guy is the mack daddy of all mack daddies! He is hitting on Liz and Deeda! BRAZEN!

A: Let’s give KOKH news director Joe Spadea a little break. For one, it’s not like he turned into a rogue Twitter creeper like Bob Barry Jr. He’s just inviting the attractive female employees he supervises to meet him in front of the fireplace at Rococo. It’s not like they work in the KOKH HR department or anything.

On that note, I think I’m going to finish this post up. Hopefully things work out for Speno. He’s a talented guy and will surely land on his feet. We wish him the best of luck. As for the other people involved, we wish them the best of luck, too. Let’s just hope they get some counseling.

Update: We are also hearing that Speno’s position as a partner in “The Dry Design” group may have had something to do with his departure. Also, just to clarify, we are not implying that Andrew Speno had an inappropriate relationship with any Fox 25 employee. What we are saying is that he may have known of — or gossiped about —inappropriate relationships between employees at KOKH.

There’s a lot more to this story…Ogle Moles will reveal n time. For example, on March 12th when Speno did his apology, I commented as follows:
Walker says:
March 12, 2012 at 11:56 am
A couple of months ago Andrew Speno had a video walk through where he discussed the advantage of hiring a media company that has direct connections to the media….It’s now off the website however, Speno remains the President and Billy Dry (Fox25 cameraman) is the CEO of the Dry Design Group…is that not a conflict of interest?

Walker, I left on my own accord long before any of this began. Speculate as much as you want, or you can contact me and I will answer your questions because it appears you are listening to rumor more than fact.

Last time you spoke to me was 3/13 when you said about Speno, “Fox didnt have a problem with the content”…well I guess they did have a problem with content, “crack-pipe” and you also indicated that none of your Dry Design clients were inserted into Speno on- air vignettes. A Fox25 investigation will show differently. Look it’s simple, Speno is fired on Thursday and immediately has a job that started Monday as a “marketing consultant” for a law firm. That’s called, “calling in your chits”…and why do you care? Speno’s now gone and so are you.

This should be easy for Speno since his workshop offers:
–How to Deal with Rumors
–How to Deliver Bad News
–How to Announce a Change
–Understanding Your Boss
–How to Repair Damaged Relationships
See, http://www.andrewspeno.org/

Andrew Speno may have been professional on air but he was a bastard and nasty to people behind the scenes. He once played a practical joke on someone by making them believe they had an interview in Little Rock Arkansas and when the drove out there, they learned it was a prank. Plus, he was one of the people who treated Phyllis Williams, one of the classiest women in local news, like garbage. He finally got what he deserved.

This is only the beginning of the unmasking of Speno. There are other Ogle Moles who are now ready to share…now that they have no fear of his petty retaliations and the brigade of minions he led has lost its leader.